The effect and safety of ropinirole in the treatment of Parkinson disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: It is necessary to conduct a meta-analysis of the clinical randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on ropinirole in the treatment of Parkinson disease (PD), to explore the effects and safety of ropinirole, and to provide a theoretical basis for clinically safe and rational drug use. METHODS: RCTs on the effectiveness and safety of ropinirole in the treatment of PD were searched. We searched Dutch medical literature database, Pubmed, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Knowledge Service Platform up to December 15, 2020. The Cochrane risk bias assessment tool was used to evaluate the quality of the included literature, and the RevMan5.3 software was used for meta-analysis. RESULTS: A total of 12 RCTs with 3341 patients were included. The changes of Parkinson Disease Rating Scale Part II score (mean difference = –2.23, 95% confidence interval [CI] –2.82 to –1.64) and Parkinson Disease Rating Scale Part III scores (mean difference = –4.93, 95%CI –5.25 to –4.61) in the ropinirole group was significantly lower than that in the control group. The incidence of dizziness (odd risk [OR] = 1.85, 95%CI 1.50–2.28), nausea (OR = 2.17, 95%CI 1.81–2.59), vomiting (OR = 2.73, 95%CI 1.47–5.09), and lethargy (OR = 2.19, 95%CI 1.39–3.44) in the ropinirole group was significantly higher than that in the control group (all P < .05), and there were no significant differences in the incidence of headache (OR = 1.14, 95%CI 0.79–1.65) and insomnia (OR = 1.06, 95%CI 0.72–1.55) were found between 2 groups (all P > .05). CONCLUSIONS: Ropinirole can help improve the ability of daily living and exercise function of PD patients, but it will increase the incidence of related adverse reactions, which needs to be further confirmed by subsequent large-scale, high-quality RCTs.